Kula resident Kyle Ellison has been heavily involved in Maui's wildfire recovery over the past year. He recently returned from disaster-stricken North Carolina, where he witnessed the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and helped with the cleanup.
“Everything's covered in garbage and people's personal belongings. Twenty feet up in the trees are people's backpacks and bottles of syrup that are unopened and a couch and Polaroid pictures of someone's dog," he told HPR.
“Because their homes and businesses and stores just were swept away, and it's all this detritus of people's stuff, all covered in mud and sand in the trees and littered everywhere, and you don't even know where to begin, and this extends for miles.”
Ellison has family ties to the area, and he and his wife lived in Asheville for a few years. He started a paddleboard business there in 2015 before moving back home to Maui.
“Having just gone through so much of this, I did feel this responsibility to share what we've learned in another federally declared major disaster within the last 14 months," he said.
When Ellison landed in Asheville, he bought a chainsaw and filled his rental car with cases of water. He and his family raised money for friends and fellow small business owners in the area. He also shared information he had learned on Maui about insurance claims, federal aid and mental health care.
“They're asking the same questions like we were asking on Maui right after the fire," he said.
Ellison said the Asheville and Maui communities share a reliance on tourism, which is taking a huge toll on local business owners and families.
Similar to Maui, housing is also in high demand, where the hurricane leveled entire towns two weeks ago.
“One thing in fire is that it eliminates a lot of stuff. It just burns and it's gone. With a flood, everything's still there when the water recedes, it's now just an enormous mess, like a mess you can't comprehend, like dishwashers randomly sitting on tops of piles of wood that are 18 feet high.”
For those wanting to help, Ellison suggests financial contributions to trusted local North Carolina organizations. For a list of resources from Blue Ridge Public Radio in North Carolina, click here.
